THE GOODBYE GIRL (1977)

Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, huh?  Four other Oscar nominations, hum? I guess a lot has changed between 1977 and today because this film was lost on me.

Dancer Marsha Mason's actor boyfriend just dumped her and moved out of the country.  Even worse, he subleased their apartment to another actor, Richard Dreyfuss, without informing her.  So now, kinda like in THE MORE THE MERRIER, she has an uninvited guest living with her.  At first they are at each other like cats and dogs, but of course they eventually fall in love.  Never saw that coming!

Normally I'm a fan of Neil Simon's work, but this one wasn't that good.  I didn't care for the characters.  Dreyfuss comes across as a self-absorbed dick and Mason's entire existence seems to revolve around if she has a boyfriend or not.  I didn't feel any sympathy of either one of them.

As far as the acting goes, Richard Dreyfuss was pretty much your standard onscreen Richard Dreyfuss.  I thought he was much better in JAWS.  Marsha Mason...ehh, she wasn't all that good, but maybe that was just the pathetic character she was playing.  All in all, I found the entire movie to be a slight bore.  Unlikable characters, small kid full of wise-beyond-her-years wisecracks, highly predictable but still disappointing ending (there's no way in hell these two loons are gonna make it), 70's interior designs, interesting outdoor NYC street scenes, Dreyfuss playing a supergay Richard III (the only funny part of the movie), mediocre acting (Woody Allen should have won the Acting Oscar instead for ANNIE HALL). 

Not a bad film just a dated (what the hell was the "blood test" line about?) and boring one.  Skip it.

POSEIDON (2006)

You know the story: boat, wave, upside down, survivors struggle to escape.  I can't really remember anybody begging for yet another Poseidon movie, but they made it anyway.  This time around Kurt Russell is the main guy leading the survivors to safety.  He's alright, but really the script is so bland, the role could have been played by about anybody. 

Brief character introductions, wave crashes, boat flips, survivors argue and some set off to the bottom of the boat to get out through a hole, along the way they run into all kinds of stuff: water, fire, tight spaces, dated CGI, underwater swimming, blah, blah, blah. I, with my gigantic brain, could come up with an fresh, entertaining take on the old Poseidon story, but this soulless remake, while it isn't bad, is just too much like the original film to be enjoyable.  Worth watching for all the explosions and Emily Rossum's cleavage but that's about it.  I'll never watch it again even if I live to be 1,500 years old.

Part 1 The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Part 2 - Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
Remake 1 - The Poseidon Adventure (2005)

INSERTS (1974)

In 1930, a once great silent film director (Richard Dreyfuss) is down on his luck and reduced to filming pornos in his rundown Hollywood mansion. But he can't even do that right, because instead of just leaving the camera on the tripod (like the money man wants) Dreyfuss insists on moving the camera around to give it a more realistic feel. One morning while filming an especially energetic rape scene, the money man (Bob Hoskins) shows up unexpectedly with his new girl (Jessica Harper). Stuff happens and Harper is left alone with Dreyfuss...it's quite an eventfully day.

Before sitting down to watch INSERTS I had never even heard of this film, but it ended up being quite enjoyable and somewhat shocking for the sheer amount of nudity in it. Jessica Harper is pretty much topless in entire second half of the film! Not that I'm complaining, but I do want to complain a little bit about the complete lack of Extras on the DVD. It would've been nice to at least have an audio commentary, because now that I've seen the film I have a lot of questions about it including: What was the budget? Did it make any money? What exactly did United Artists expect from a film that takes place entirely in one room and consists of pretty much nothing but talking? How did this film even get made? Maybe because of the popularity of LAST TANGO IN PARIS? If it was filmed in 1974 why was it not released until 1976 and did it have anything to do with the popularity of JAWS? Was this story based in reality at all? Was the guy the "big cheese" they spoke of F. W. Murnau? What do the actors involved with the movie think of it now and how has it affected their career?

Should you watch INSERTS? I guess that really depends on your taste in films, but I recommend it. The story is interesting; it's cleverly written to lean towards the style of 1930's romantic comedies; all of the performances are excellent; a young Bob Hoskins; a young Veronica Cartwright; you get to see Richard Dreyfuss licking nipples and also because it's such a curious little film. I honestly can't think of anything else like it.

Is this the first occurrence of the word "cunt" in a big studio movie?

Is this the first occurrence of the word "boner-rama" in a big studio movie?